World

European Vacation as Much as 25 Percent Cheaper Due to Euro

Published

9 years ago

April 15, 2015

U.S. visitors Zach Branch, 19, right, and Madison Franklin, 18, both from California, kiss in front of the Parthenon during their visit at the Acropolis hill in Athens, on Wednesday, April 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

BARRY HATTON, Associated Press

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Vacations in Europe have a new attraction: the euro’s steep drop in value is making the continent much cheaper for tourists from across the world, especially the United States and China.

For American tourists, the dollar’s strength translates into a discount of around 25 percent compared with this time last year. China’s currency has risen some 20 percent against the euro over the past year.

And eurozone residents feeling the pinch from their sluggish economies are more likely to stay inside the bloc, where they won’t feel the currency changes.

That means the ingredients are in place for “a great year for tourism” in Europe, says Nick Greenfield, head of tour operator relations at the London-based European Tour Operators Association.

The euro has fallen against many currencies in recent times, but its drop has been particularly pronounced against the dollar. The euro was trading at $1.057 on Wednesday, having been as high as $1.40 a year ago. Tim Cooper, a global economist at BMI Research in London, says his company expects the euro and dollar to reach parity later this year.

The European Central Bank’s policies have been weakening the euro, while those of the U.S. Federal Reserve have been bolstering the dollar. The euro has also been dragged down by fears over Greece’s debts and the bloc’s muted economic growth.

U.S. bookings to some European countries have risen by up to 20 percent so far, European tourism officials and American travel companies report.

Lyssandros Tsilidis, president of the Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agents, said Greece has seen a 15-20 percent increase in reservations from the U.S. — Europe’s biggest long-haul market — compared to the same time last year. Spain saw a 12 percent increase in January and almost 19 percent in February. Officials anticipate more growth, which they attribute to the dollar’s strength.

The exchange rate “certainly makes things easier to enjoy,” said Bob Homeyer, a retired businessman from San Diego on vacation in Madrid with his wife. “We have had some fine meals for what worked out to be reasonable prices, and our visit to the Prado Museum worked out at 7 euros ($7.48) each, which is a real bargain,” he said outside the Madrid landmark.

Among individual cities, Paris is a top attraction, pulling some 10 million Americans tourists last year. Officials hope to make it 11 million this year — and “encourage them to spend more” while the exchange rate is favorable, says Francois Navarro, general manager of the city’s tourism committee.

If trends hold, Navarro said, Americans could well return this year to the top spot among foreign tourists in the Paris area — for the first time in about a decade. “It’ll be a big deal,” he said.

But a new generation of Chinese tourists is shaking up Paris’ forecasts, Navarro said. They’re aged 25 to 40, travel alone, and spend on high-end hotels and restaurants, unlike the previous generation that wanted mainly to shop. And a Chinese visitor spends four times as much on average as Americans.

The United States is also the biggest source of tourists for Rome, which recorded a 7 percent increase in American visitors in January, the latest figures available, compared with the same month last year.

U.S. tour company Liberty Travel says its New York City outlets are reporting a year-on-year 17 percent jump in bookings to Europe. That includes marked growth in travel to usually less-visited European cities, including Dublin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid and Athens, the company said.

Vacationers have a broad variety of options to choose from: the eurozone encompasses countries from Portugal to Finland and from Greece to Ireland.

Europe is now competing for American business with popular U.S. destinations, says Joseph A. Moscone, Booking.com’s senior manager for public relations in the Americas.

The company compared room prices this year in Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Berlin with last year’s prices, using the euro-dollar exchange rate last month and in March 2014. It concluded that the average price in U.S. dollars for a night in a 4-star hotel in those cities is 21 percent lower, and down 17 percent for 5-star accommodation.

That means, Booking.com calculates, that for the price of seven days in Palm Springs, an American could spend 14 days in Barcelona.

Vacations in Europe are “not only affordable, but even a relatively inexpensive option in comparison to some pricier U.S. destinations,” Moscone said in emailed comments to the AP.

____

Contributors to this report were Elena Becatoros and Raphael Kominis in Athens, Harold Heckle and Ciaran Giles in Madrid, Jamey Keaten in Paris, and Gianfranco Stara in Rome.

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Bay Area

Nigerian Bank Chief Killed in Helicopter Crash on Way to Superbowl XVIII

According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dept., the crash occurred near Nipton, on the edge of the Mojave Desert Preserve. The poor weather conditions — rain, wind and snow showers—may have contributed to the accident, although the investigation is not complete. All six aboard were killed. Herbert Wigwe, 57, founded Access Bank in 1989, and it became the country’s largest competitor, Diamond Bank in 2018.

Published

2 months ago

February 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Herbert Wigwe with his wife, Chizoba Wigwe, left, and Abimbola Ogunbanjo, right. ENigeria Newspaper image.

By Post Staff

The co-founder of one of Nigeria’s largest banks died with his wife, son and three others when the helicopter transporting them from Palm Springs, Ca., to Boulder City, Nev. to attend the fifty-eighth SuperBowl at the stadium outside Las Vegas crashed on Feb. 9.

Herbert Wigwe, 57, founded Access Bank in 1989, and it became the country’s largest competitor, Diamond Bank in 2018.

More recently, Wigwe was planning to open a banking service in Asia this year after making successful expansions to other parts of Africa, including South Africa, Kenya, and Botswana.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu described Wigwe’s death as an ‘overwhelming tragedy.”

Oakland resident and Nigerian immigrant Kayode Gbadebo agrees with Tinubu. He met Wigwe in Nigeria but crossed paths with him in London in 2006. Wigwe, he said, “took risks.”

He was young and people thought he couldn’t do what he intended, which was not so much about money but community.

“He was more like Jesus in washing the feet of the poor– Wigwe was culturizing community,” Gbadebo said.

“There will never be another like him. This is a deep, deep loss” and he hopes everyone will eventually “be comforted.”

He was also disappointed that a replacement has already been named even before Wigwe is buried. “It is not reasonable. You don’t want a vacuum, but it’s” not fair to the family, Gbadebo observed.

Wigwe had also been working to solve the migration issues from African countries, believing that “investing in higher education was key to controlling mass migration, which “is destabilising countries across the world,” BBC News reported.

“We need to take a holistic approach to address global migration, starting with our traditional framework for international development,” Wigwe wrote.

To that end, according to BBC News, Wigwe was preparing to open Wigwe University in Niger, where he was from.

“The best place to limit migration is not in the middle of the Mediterranean or the English Channel or the Rio Grande. It is in the home countries that so many migrants are so desperate to leave,” he wrote, saying his university was an opportunity for him “to give back to society.”

Besides Wigwe and his wife, Chizoba Nwuba Wigwe, and one son, two crew members and Bimbo Ogunbanjo, former group chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, were also killed in the crash.

According to Wikipedia, three other children survive Wigwe.

In his statement reported in People magazine, Tinubu described Wigwe as “a distinguished banker, humanitarian, and entrepreneur.”

“I pray for the peaceful repose of the departed and ask God Almighty to comfort the multitude of Nigerians who are grieving and the families of the deceased at this deeply agonizing moment,” the president said.

He added, “Their passing is an overwhelming tragedy that is shocking beyond comprehension.”

Besides feeling the tremendous loss, Gbadebo fears the disorder and greed that will follow. “It’s a mess,” he said.

People magazine, BBC News and Wikipedia were the sources for this report.

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Activism

No Valid Reason for Failing to Condemn Hamas’ Act of Terrorism

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists crossed the Israel-Gaza border and indiscriminately slaughtered Israeli civilians in their homes. They killed nearly 300 young people at a music festival and took at least 200 hostages including 30 children. The atrocities they committed included massacres of families, abduction of the elderly and children, burning of babies and rapes of women.

Published

6 months ago

November 3, 2023

Oakland Post

iStock image.

By Joe W. Bowers Jr.

California Black Media

OPINION

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists crossed the Israel-Gaza border and indiscriminately slaughtered Israeli civilians in their homes.

They killed nearly 300 young people at a music festival and took at least 200 hostages including 30 children. The atrocities they committed included massacres of families, abduction of the elderly and children, burning of babies and rapes of women.

The horrific surprise attack deserves universal and unequivocal condemnation. President Joe Biden called what Hamas did “an act of sheer evil” and pledged to defend the lives of Israelis and Jewish Americans.

He said, “Let there be no doubt. The United States has Israel’s back. We’ll make sure the Jewish and democratic state of Israel can defend itself today, tomorrow, as we always have.”

Hamas killed approximately 1,400 people including 32 Americans. Citizens from 40 different countries including the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, and Thailand were killed or reported missing.

Hamas fighters breached Israel’s border defenses on the final day of Sukkot while soldiers were away due to the holiday and launched attacks on 22 towns outside the Gaza Strip. This security lapse has been described as a catastrophic failure of Israel’s intelligence agencies..

Hamas is an extremist Islamist militant organization that has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007. It is recognized as an Iranian-backed terrorist group by the U.S. and the European Union and has a long history of violence against Jews and Palestinians, the latter of whom they often use as human shields.

While there have been plenty of groups who have unequivocally condemned the massacres, there are a number who haven’t, including organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Black Alliance for Peace, Red Nation, and independent Black Lives Matter (BLM) chapters (excluding the national Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation).

The DSA San Francisco chapter put out a statement on Oct. 9 that said, “Socialists support the Palestinian people’s, and all people’s, right to resist and fight for their own liberation. This weekend’s events are no different.”

Student organizations at a number of universities and colleges in California signed a solidarity statement titled “Resistance Uprising in Gaza” from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The statement attributes the violence of the Hamas attack to what it refers to as Israeli apartheid and occupation.

The SJP statement written by Bears for Palestine at UC Berkeley says, “We support the resistance, we support the liberation movement, and we indisputably support the Uprising.” Essentially, these students are indirectly associating themselves with Hamas’ barbaric acts under the guise of “resistance.”

Signing the statement were 51 student organizations including those from Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis, UC San Diego, CSU Sacramento, and USC.

A statement signed by 34 Harvard student organizations said, “We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”

Many university leaders, where these students are enrolled, have been guilty of failing to unequivocally condemn Hamas and for inadequately addressing their students’ expressed support for Hamas.

Several Stanford faculty members, including three Nobel laureates, condemned Stanford’s administrators’ weak response to acts of terrorism and the expression of pro-Hamas sentiments by students on campus.

Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005. It dismantled 21 Israeli settlements in the territory and handed them over to the Palestinian Authority.

The assault by Hamas on Oct. 7 was not an ordinary clash with Israel. Hamas’ actions resulted in the deadliest single day for Jews since the Holocaust.

While there are valid reasons for protesting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and a real reckoning with the Israeli government on its policies is long overdue, nothing justifies Hamas’ attack.

Israelis who were killed largely had nothing to do with the conditions of Palestinians in Gaza. Some of the victims weren’t even Israeli — they were just tourists.

The students blaming Israel for the atrocities committed by Hamas have faced criticism. Some groups have withdrawn their endorsements because of the backlash aimed at them. Others have doubled down on their activism. SJP held a “National Day of Resistance” on several campuses.

Several CEOs have asked Harvard to disclose a list of members from the organizations assigning responsibility to Israel to insure they do not hire any of their members. A Berkeley law professor has also urged firms not to hire his students who have publicly blamed Israel for the war.

This California Black Media report was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.